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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208497">Breakfast</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EleenaDume/pseuds/EleenaDume'>EleenaDume</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Spop fics! [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adora is a terrible cook and everyone knows it, Adora ships Glimmer and Bow, Best Friend Squad (She-Ra), Best Friend Squad Bonding., Best Friend Squad Bonding?, Bow Is a Good Friend (She-Ra), But I could not figure out what to do with him in this fic, Catra tries her best to be friendly as well, Catra's love language is finally admitting Adora is her weakness, Catradora-centric, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Developing Relationship(s), F/F, F/M, Fluff, Glimbow cuddles, Glimbow-centric, I wrote a sequel to my own fic because I have no self control, I’m sorry, There are more knowing looks exchanged, There’s still a bit of angst but it’s very very minor, This is less angsty than the first part I promise, also I really love Wrong Hordak, and Catra is slowly growing on Glimmer and Bow, but nobody is ready to confess their feelings yet, everyone basically admitted to themselves that they're in love at this point, except for Adora, friendly teasing, he’s great, honestly the ships are split about 50/50, nobody ever recovered from her first attempt, there is so much teasing in this fic, this is also the backstory to Catra sitting in Adora’s lap in episode 7 that nobody asked for</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:55:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,530</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208497</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EleenaDume/pseuds/EleenaDume</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Catra tried to make breakfast and it’s better than everyone expected it to be (but that might just be because Adora set the bar extremely low with her first attempt at cooking), Glimmer can’t help clinging to Bow after the nightmare she had the previous night, Bow reflects on his feelings for Glimmer and Adora has no idea why she gets so nervous around Catra all of a sudden, but is just glad to finally be able to call her a friend again. </p><p>Takes place in between “Taking Control” and “Perils of Peekablue”.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora &amp; Bow &amp; Catra &amp; Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Spop fics! [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1791085</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Breakfast</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the sequel to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24766729">this fic</a><br/>Two of my other fics (“At the end of the world” and “About what happened...”) are also both referenced, but you don’t necessarily have to read them to understand this story.</p><p>This assumes that traveling from Etheria to Prime’s flagship and back took them at least three weeks each, because of their old ship, their limited knowledge of the technology and the lack of any ability to teleport or create portals. I have no idea if that’s accurate, but then again, nobody really knows how much time passes during the show.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Bow and Glimmer were rudely awoken by the sound of the door swooshing open and unpleasantly loud voices.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She still had her arms around him the same way she had when they’d fallen asleep, and she didn’t plan on letting go anytime soon.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“See? I told you so! That’s exactly why I didn’t want to go back in here.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Huh, and here I thought you were just looking for an excuse to share the mattress with me again.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“What? Me? </span> <em><span class="s2">Nooo...</span></em><span class="s1">”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They heard Adora laugh. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Do... do you think we should let them sleep?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You should have thought about that before you barged in here,” Glimmer murmured groggily and threw a pillow roughly in the direction the voices had come from without opening her eyes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was way too tired for this nonsense.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em><span class="s2">‘Whoever said space is peaceful and quiet definitely </span> <strong><span class="s3">never</span></strong> <span class="s2"> traveled with these guys.’</span></em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good morning...?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Bow blinked, still half asleep when he sat up on the mattress. He kind of dragged Glimmer up with him accidentally because she was still unwilling to let go of him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">...not that he minded.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What are you guys doing in here?” Glimmer wondered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, yawning.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her grip on boy tightened a bit when she saw Wrong Hordak. He seemed to be pretty okay, but he brought back a lot of bad memories, and she didn’t think she’d ever get used to that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, Adora and Catra just spent a weird amount of time commenting on your sleeping position, especially considering I found them in the same one,” Entrapta analyzed with her usual enthusiasm.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two girls flushed scarlet.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Bow grinned.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Awwww, you guys were spooning?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We. Were. Not. Spooning,” Catra growled, but then she dropped the demeanor, her face turning into a sheepish grin. “...and also, I might have burnt breakfast.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That genuinely surprised Glimmer, but in a positive way.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You tried to make breakfast?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Well, yeah. Emphasis on </span> <span class="s2"><em>tried</em>.</span><span class="s1"> I mean, you cooked for us once, and Arrow Boy did it the rest of the week, and I just... thought I should try it? Argh, I... I don’t know. Maybe that was a stupid idea. Especially because I don’t know how to cook.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer shrugged.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, that’s fine. It’s... really nice of you, actually. And I don’t think anyone here knows how to cook, except for Bow maybe.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora chuckled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, she has a point.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I mean, it can’t be as bad as when Adora tried to make food. We ended up with half-cooked broccoli with chocolate sauce and sprinkles for dinner,” Bow pointed out, shrugging. “It looked kind of nice, but...”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He was trying to be polite, but really, there hadn’t been much in the meal his friend had made that one </span> <em><span class="s2">could</span></em> <span class="s1"> be polite about. There was a difference between ‘</span><em><span class="s2">you clearly haven’t cooked before and your cooking still needs a some work</span><span class="s1">’ </span></em><span class="s1">and</span><em><span class="s1"> ‘</span><span class="s2">your cooking is literally weapons-grade</span><span class="s1">’.</span></em></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer’s face went green.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Oh stars, don’t remind me. I still want to throw up just </span> <span class="s2">thinking</span> <span class="s1"> about that.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra’s eyes widened.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Adora did </span> <em><span class="s2">what?!”</span></em></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">She had never tried either of these things, personally, but she roughly knew what they were, and even </span> <em><span class="s2">she</span></em> <span class="s1"> could tell that there was </span> <em><span class="s2">no way</span></em> <span class="s1"> these were supposed to go together.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The blonde scratched the back of her head.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It wasn’t as bad as it sounds...” Glimmer gave her a death glare. “...you know what? Actually, it was.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora blinked for a moment. Why had she tried to defend the terrible food she’d made? She was usually totally cool with the others joking about her really, really poor first attempt at cooking, especially because she herself knew that it had been awful and that she would never try that combination again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And yet, today she felt a pang of... embarrassment?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Weird. Why would she...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">‘It isn’t because Catra’s here, is it? She knows what I’m like, better than anyone, so I doubt this surprises her. And, I mean, there are other ways I could impress her than cooking!’</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...wait, why would she want to impress Catra? </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That made no sense.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora shook her head and abandoned these thoughts.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And that’s the story why almighty She-Ra over here is banished from Bright Moon’s kitchen,” Glimmer concluded, giggling.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Catra chuckled. That </span> <em><span class="s2">did</span></em> <span class="s1"> make her feel a little better about her own cooking skills. </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And Adora getting a tad bit embarrassed was also a nice bonus. She looked really cute when she was embarrassed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">...damn, Catra had missed her best friend.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not to worry, you guys. No broccoli today. Would have been hard to make anyway, seeing as we have no broccoli on the ship,” the brunette promised. “You guys coming?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer smiled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sure, we’ll just get dressed real quick, and then we’ll be right there.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How are you?” Bow asked his best friend as soon as the door closed behind the others.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer gave him a small smile.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Better, I think.” She nuzzled against the crook of his neck. “Just tired.“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He stroked her head.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’ll never be a morning person, huh?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She laughed, visibly relaxing a bit. Being with Bow always made her feel so much better...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I mean, technically, there are no mornings in space – but no, I’m definitely never going to be a morning person. At this rate, our kids are going to have to wake me one day instead of me waking them.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Bow stared at her for a second. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">Had she just...?</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">No. No way. Glimmer wouldn’t... she didn’t... they were close, obviously, but... he’d know if she had feelings for him, right?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You think they’ll be close? ...our kids, I mean,” he added when he saw the confused look on her face. “You know, since you suggested they’d come wake you up together.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Yeah. Right. They’ll be best friends, just like us. I’m sure of that,” Glimmer replied, just kind of going with what he had said because </span> <em><span class="s2">oh stars she couldn’t believe she’d just suggested having kids like that without even telling him she was in love with him first.</span></em></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Bow shook his head and smiled at her softly. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Of course that was what she’d meant.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The mental image of their kids also being best friends one day was adorable.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Despite that, for a moment, he couldn’t help but imagine a girl with his dark curls and Glimmer’s beautiful eyes and a little boy with his eyes and her cute little nose and smile climbing into bed to wake them, him and Glimmer still sleepily embracing each other the same way they had tonight.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">‘Huh.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He really had caught feelings for her, after all. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em><span class="s2">...or maybe he’d always felt that way about her and hadn’t realized what his feelings truly were until he’d almost lost</span> <span class="s2">her.</span></em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That thought had always terrified him, but this had been so much worse than anything he could ever have imagined. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This was already the second really close call since they’d met. He’d do everything in his power to make sure there would never be a third.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He hugged her. She snuggled against him. He felt his cheeks heat.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was weird. As mad as he’d been at her, and as terrified as he’d been about possibly losing her, apparently this was what he’d needed to put some things about their relationship into perspective.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey Bow?” She asked, pulling him from his thoughts.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thanks again for earlier. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He smiled at her.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course. Anytime.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’d tell her eventually. Maybe. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But now was not the time.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">After a while of comfortably sitting like that in silence, Bow spoke up again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Come on, we should actually get dressed now, before the others-”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Too late. Catra stuck her head in again.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Hey, are you guys coming? If you keep making out in the cabin for another hour, the food will taste burnt </span> <em><span class="s2">and</span></em> <span class="s1"> be cold by the time you join us!”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer blushed scarlet and let go of Bow, like that would change anything about what Catra just saw.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We were not making out!” She protested – then realized how weird her reaction had just been.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She and Bow hugged all the time. Hugging was a normal thing that friends did. There was no need for her to be embarrassed about anyone catching them. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer shook her head.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">‘Well that was subtle... I just made everything worse, didn’t I?’</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Surprisingly, though, Catra didn’t bring it up again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sure, whatever. Now get up and get dressed so you can join us for breakfast.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"><br/>
<br/>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So... what do you think?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra was super nervous what the others thought about the food she’d made because she was pretty sure it wasn’t terrible – she’d tried it beforehand, of course, she wasn’t trying to poison anyone, after all –, and she really wanted to do something nice for everyone after they’d saved her and been so nice and kind to her despite everything that had happened between them... that she’d done to them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This is actually pretty neat,” Glimmer concluded after a while of chewing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Bow nodded in agreement, and Adora was already moved to tears because Catra had tried at all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This is the best thing I have ever eaten,” the blonde breathed, just loud enough for Catra to hear.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The brunette shook her head.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“That’s sweet, dummy, but we both know the food Bow and Glimmer made was </span> <em><span class="s2">way</span></em> <span class="s1"> better.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But Adora shook her head. She meant it. She really did. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The food made her feel warm inside, in a way it couldn’t when Bow or Glimmer cooked.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Wrong Hordak was just eating quietly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Entrapta put her fork down and cocked her head to the side in curiosity.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Is that something you do as friends? Lie to the other person to make them feel better about their inadequate skills? </span> <em><span class="s2">Fascinating...</span></em><span class="s1">”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra flattened her ears.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">‘Ouch.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’re not lying, Entrapta. This is actually pretty good,” Glimmer chimed in. “Especially considering this is her first time cooking. You can’t let someone cook for the first time in their life and then except the kind of meal professional kitchen staff would make. Besides, Adora has been trying to learn how to cook for years, </span>
  <em><span class="s2">and</span> <span class="s2">let me tell you</span></em>
  <span class="s1">, it did not get much better after the </span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">broccoli with sprinkles</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1"><em>-incident.</em> Somehow, Adora is still worse after years of trying than Catra was at her first attempt.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There it was again. Adora was embarrassed for no reason. The fact that she couldn’t cook wasn’t a secret, and she usually didn’t even care about it. Other people joking about that was fine. And it wasn’t like that was a skill that really mattered at the moment. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">What was going on?</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra chuckled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">‘Wow. She has a really nice laugh.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora shook her head. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She knew that. She’d always known that. Why was she thinking about that now?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So that’s your biggest weakness huh? Who would’ve thought! Etheria’s almighty hero, defeated by a stove and a frying pan,” Catra teased her, grinning.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">“...shut up.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora tried to sound annoyed, but she was visibly beaming when she nudged the brunette. She was just happy that, after all this time, she could finally call Catra her friend again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Never,” Catra replied teasingly as she nudged Adora back. “That’s the only thing I’m going to be talking about for the rest of my life.” Her grin widened. “Hey, that means I can now officially put ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">cooks better than She-Ra</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">’ on my resume, right? Oh, I know! I need a cup that says that! Or an apron!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora giggled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re an idiot.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, well, at least I’m an idiot that can cook,” Catra shot back, sticking her tongue out at the blonde.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They were all laughing now, except for Entrapta, who was speaking into her voice recorder.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“After a couple of days of observations, I think I can safely conclude that it is indeed still very much mutual.” She squealed. “Oh, that means I can update Scorpia when we get back home! </span> <em><span class="s2">How exciting!</span></em><span class="s1">”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra winced a bit when hearing her former friend’s name. Scorpia had been nothing but kind to her from the start, and Catra had been the worst friend possibly imaginable. She felt awful. Scorpia deserved an apology – or twenty –, and then, maybe, she’d forgive her. Maybe they could actually be friends this time. Or maybe Scorpia wouldn’t want the person that hurt her back in her life, and that would be okay, too, despite the sting Catra felt when she thought about it.<br/>
What mattered was that Scorpia was happy, no matter what she would choose – just like it had been with Adora.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra was done making everyone miserable – herself included. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Update Scorpia on wha-” Glimmer started, then stopped in mid-sentence. “On second thought, I don’t think I even want to know.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Entrapta blinked, then eyed Bow and Glimmer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Speaking of, you two are also interestingly close today. Amount of touching in comparison to the last couple of days increased by about twenty percent. That brings us pretty close to a hundred percent so far! I don’t think Glimmer has stopped holding onto your arm since you two entered the room... Should I write that down? I’m going to write that down.” She thought about the best way to word it for a moment. “There appears to be a chance that travelers will develop an increased need for physical contact while in space, as indicated by four different research subjects.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a moment of very awkward silence as everyone but Wrong Hordak blushed scarlet and tried to avoid eye contact with the person they were sitting with... but Catra didn’t move from where she was sitting, and Glimmer still didn’t let go of Bow’s arm.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In the end, it was Adora that broke the silence as she cleared her throat and looked directly at Glimmer and Bow.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Entrapta’s kind of right. You two </span> <span class="s2">do</span> <span class="s1"> seem even more attached at the hip today than usual.“ </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They looked very cozy. It was pretty cute.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer had to bite back a comment about how Adora was really one to talk, with Catra sitting on her lap and all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Over the course of the last few days, Catra had slowly moved closer and closer to Adora during meals – which had been blatantly obvious to anyone but Adora – until on the prior day, Catra had carefully touched her arm, and Adora had pulled her a little closer, which the brunette had taken as a signal that they maybe could go back to the way they used to be. Her initial shyness had melted away from her now, and she’d gone from sitting next to her friend to straight up planting herself in Adora’s lap today. The blonde hadn’t complained one bit.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did something happen?” Adora asked when neither of them replied.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer‘s semi-good mood disappeared instantly as she remembered the previous night. Her mouth went dry. Her voice was incredibly monotone as she spoke.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nothing, I just... had a nightmare,” she said.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Right. </span> <em><span class="s2">One,</span></em><span class="s1">” Bow murmured, glancing at his best friend worriedly.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She immediately elbowed him in the ribs for that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora already had enough on her plate as it was, there was no need to worry her further, especially with something as silly as a couple of nightmares.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But I’m all better now.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, but apparently it was convincing enough for Adora to not dig deeper.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra kept quiet, but gave the Queen a sympathetic, encouraging look that made Glimmer certain the brunette knew what it felt like.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All things considered, Catra had definitely had it way worse than Glimmer on Prime’s ship. Glimmer shuddered at the thought of being robbed of her free will, of being forced to fight the people she loved.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">Didn’t that mean that Glimmer was just being a baby that was upset for no reason? If Catra could cope with that, why couldn’t Glimmer even calm herself long enough to let go of Bow’s arm?</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She closed her eyes and tried to keep herself from shaking. It didn’t work very well. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Apparently guessing where Glimmer‘s mind went, Catra coughed a bit and spoke up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sparkles, listen, I... I know we’re pretty different, but nightmares always suck, no matter how bad they are, and I don’t think they can be compared anyway because different people are afraid of different things. It’s good that you have someone there to comfort you.” She snuggled against the crook of Adora’s neck. “But I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I... thank you.” Glimmer’s smile felt less fake now. Bow nodded at Catra appreciative as he put an arm around his best friend. Adora was thankfully way too distracted by the brunette purring against her chest to really listen to what they were talking about. It was better that way. “What about you guys? How did you sleep?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good. Great actually.” Adora beamed. “I don’t think I’ve slept this good in years.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Since she’d left the Horde, to be precise.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, me too. I... really missed sleeping next to you,” Catra mumbled, blushing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em><span class="s2">“What do you mean, ‘missed’?”</span> </em>
  <span class="s1"> Glimmer raised an eyebrow. “You’ve done this before?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Pretty much every day before I left.” Adora grinned smugly. “She couldn’t sleep without me.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">...that actually explained a lot – especially the time Adora had climbed into Glimmer’s bed because she hadn’t been used to sleeping alone. She hadn’t just meant that referring to the fact that she’d been sharing her room with so many other cadets before. She also hadn’t been used to sleeping alone </span> <em><span class="s2">in her bed</span></em><span class="s1"><em>,</em> because she’d shared it with Catra for so long before leaving the Horde. </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra blushed even more, and her first instinct was to get defensive and deny it... but then she didn’t. She’d promised herself to be a little more open with her emotions, after all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It started back when we were kids, actually... and then we got so used to it that we never stopped. The other cadets always said we could give my bed to someone else because I never slept there anyway.” Catra shrugged and laughed. Adora looked at her in surprise... but then her expression melted into a soft smile. She couldn’t remember when she’d last been this happy. “I was losing my mind without you...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Being apart from you wasn’t easy for me either.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Catra bit her lip.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If I’d just come with you when you asked me to, none of this would have happened. I’m so sorry.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora squeezed her hand and kept her voice down when she started speaking.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Don’t get me wrong, everything that happened </span> <em><span class="s2">really, </span> <strong><span class="s3">really sucked... </span></strong></em> <span class="s1">but I think it kind of needed to happen. Even when we were so close back at the Horde, there was so much standing between us... so many things we didn’t talk about, so many things we never realized about the other, and we both had issues that we had to work through back then. ...that, and we started being an ‘<em>us</em>’ so early on that we needed some time away from each other to learn who we are separately.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’d been thinking about that a lot lately.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For a second, Catra was back on Adora’s bed at the Horde, sitting back to back with her best friend, telling her that she wouldn’t know who she’d be without her. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s2">She knew, now.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That Catra kind of sucked... she’d hurt others, and <em>she’d </em></span>
  <em> <span class="s2">been hurt, </span></em>
  <span class="s1">until finally, she’d broken down and reflected on everything she’d done, and then she’d cried and drowned herself in regret and guilt. Now, she finally really knew who she was... and who she wanted to be.<br/>
Now, she would learn from her mistakes, and she would be better.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“We needed to grow apart so we could grow back together,” she whispered when she understood, and it </span> <em><span class="s2">hurt</span></em> <span class="s1"> and it </span> <em><span class="s2">sucked</span></em> <span class="s1"> because it meant that even if they’d left together, everything still wouldn’t have been fine – but at least it also meant that everything that had happened in the past few years hadn’t happened completely in vain, even though she still wished things had been different. And maybe they could be fine again now. Or </span> <em><span class="s2">better,</span></em><span class="s1"> at the very least. “I’ve made so many mistakes and hurt so many people...”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora hugged her best friend from behind. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“These days are over. And now you’ve got all the time in the universe to be better.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And I will be. I promise.” Catra smiled softly and squeezed her hand as she snuggled against her. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Bow and Glimmer just gave each other a knowing look while Entrapta was rambling into her voice recorder again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">After a while, Catra looked up at the others and grinned. </span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Now that we’ve unveiled my deepest, darkest secret... you guys have </span> <span class="s2">got</span> <span class="s1">to have some more silly Adora-stories, right?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Glimmer laughed and cracked her knuckles.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Bow’s and Glimmer’s relationship with Catra was still strained for several reasons... but she was slowly starting to grow on them, now that they could see she was truly changing. She was </span> <em><span class="s2">almost</span></em> <span class="s1"> fun to be around.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, you bet we do.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Adora sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...oh no. ”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I liked the idea that Catra took some time to grow more comfortable around Adora before she goes on to confidently leap into her lap in “Perils of Peekablue”, so that’s why this is in here. Also, some more soft Glow because we need more, and just generally the new BFS bonding because I love all of them and their dynamic is super fun!<br/>I hope you enjoyed it!<br/>Feedback is always appreciated, comments especially. Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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